Dave Newsham retires

The BTCC has said farewell to one of its good old boys, with Dave Newsham announcing his retirement.

The 50-year-old debuted in 2011 having won the Renault Clio Cup and drove firstly for Geoff Steel Racing in a Super 2000 BMW then for Tom Boardman’s Special Tuning Racing in a NGTC SEAT Leon.

2012 was his most successful season; he finished 9th in the championship with two wins, four other podiums and also took pole for the opening race in a Vauxhall Vectra for ES Racing.

For the next three years he raced for Speedworks Motorsport, AmD Tuning and Power Maxed Racing, but he failed to register a single podium and only ever placed as high as 10th overall.

Power Maxed called him up for a couple of rounds in 2016 before BTC Racing poached him for his final season, where he finally made it back to podium in the penultimate round at Silverstone.

“It is with great sadness that I have decided to call time on my BTCC career after competed in seven consecutive seasons in the British Touring Car Championship,” said Newsham.

“I can only feel pride in what I have achieved during my time in BTCC, with eight podium finishes including two race wins.

“Scoring BTC Norlin’s first ever podium on the penultimate round of the championship means I’m leaving on a high.”

“I was almost ready to retire from BTCC at the end of 2016 when out of the blue I was handed a lifeline from BTC Norlin. We achieved some great results together last year and I have to say it was my most enjoyable season so far.”

“I hope I played my part in helping to make this team one of the best in the paddock and wish everyone involved success in the future.”

He also added that he’ll be turning his hand to doing the racing driver dad thing of supporting his son Callum with his racing career.